Zak David Zilesnick (born ), better known professionally as Zak Abel, is an English singer, songwriter, and musician. He has also been an English Cadet national table tennis champion. He's known for several songs, such as "Be Kind", "Unstable", "Say Sumthin", and "

Freedom Freedom is the power or right to speak, act, and change as one wants without hindrance or restraint. Freedom is often associated with liberty and autonomy in the sense of "giving oneself one's own laws". In one definition, something is "free" i ...

" (as a featured artist with

Kygo Kyrre Gørvell-Dahll (; born 11 September 1991), known professionally as Kygo (), is a Norwegian DJ and music producer. He first received international attention with his December 2013 remix of the track " I See Fire" by Ed Sheeran and his De ...

), among others.

Early and personal life

His father, who had been born in

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

and immigrated to Israel, died when Zilesnick was 12 years old. Zilesnick is

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

. He grew up in

Hendon Hendon is an urban area in the London Borough of Barnet, northwest London northwest of Charing Cross. Hendon was an ancient Manorialism, manor and parish in the county of Middlesex and a former borough, the Municipal Borough of Hendon; it has ...

with his mother Rachel, and attended the Jewish state school Matilda Marks, and

University College School University College School, also known as UCS, is a private day school in Frognal, Hampstead, London, England. The school was founded in 1830 by University College London and inherited many of that institution's progressive and secular views. ...

, from which he graduated in 2013. He later moved to Hackney. He is a

vegan Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal products and the consumption of animal source foods, and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. A person who practices veganism is known as a ve ...

. Having been suffering from

hearing loss Hearing loss is a partial or total inability to hear. Hearing loss may be present at birth or acquired at any time afterwards. Hearing loss may occur in one or both ears. In children, hearing problems can affect the ability to acquire spo ...

, he was diagnosed with

otosclerosis Otosclerosis is a condition of the middle ear, middle and inner ear where portions of the dense enchondral layer of the bony labyrinth Tissue remodeling, remodel into one or more lesions of irregularly-laid spongy bone. As the lesions reach the s ...

aged 21 and underwent surgery on his right ear. This restored most of the volume but affects his ability to hear pitch and so he had to relearn it. He also has hearing loss in his left ear and wears a hearing aid.

Table tennis youth player

He was ranked No. 1 in the Cadet age group in England and was 2009 Cadet Boys' Singles national champion at the age of 14; he was also ranked No. 5 for under 18s in England. Between 2008 and 2010, he won the Under 15 national singles and Under 18 doubles titles. In 2010, he was ranked number 39 in the senior category.

Music career

Zilesnick won a competition to sing at

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

's ''

Yom Haatzmaut Yom Ha'atzmaut (, , ) is Israel's national day, commemorating the Israeli Declaration of Independence on 14 May 1948. It is marked by a variety of official and unofficial ceremonies and observances. Because Israel declared independence on 14 ...

'' celebration in

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium, currently branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE Limited, EE for sponsorship reasons, is an association football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Sta ...

when he was in primary school. He made a featured appearance on the UK top 20 hit "

Unmissable "Unmissable" is a song by English electronic music production duo Gorgon City. It features the vocals from Zak Abel. It was released on 28 August 2014 as a single from their debut studio album ''Sirens''. The song was written by Kye Gibbon, Matt ...

" with

Gorgon City Gorgon City are an English electronic music production duo consisting of two North London producers Kye "Foamo" Gibbon and Matt "RackNRuin" Robson-Scott. Their 2014 singles " Ready for Your Love" and " Here for You" reached the top 10 in the UK. ...

. He has also released two extended plays, entitled ''Joker presents Zak Abel'' and ''One Hand on the Future''. In 2016, he worked with producers such as

Kaytranada Louis Kevin Celestin (born August 25, 1992), known professionally as Kaytranada (stylized as KAYTRANADA, shortened as KAYTRA), is a Haitian-Canadian music producer, rapper, singer and DJ. Celestin rose to prominence after releasing a series of m ...

and Wookie on his debut album, ''Only When We're Naked'', which was released on 6 October 2017, and debuted at number 100 on the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for album, albums. Entries are ranked by sales and audio streaming. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the O ...

. He was signed by

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over the course of its first two decades, starting from the release of its first recor ...

. On 7 May 2023, he replaced

Freya Ridings Freya Olivia Rose Ridings (born 19 April 1994) is an English singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. Ridings rose to prominence in 2017 with her ballad, " Lost Without You", which became a top ten hit on the UK Singles Chart. She followe ...

in the

Coronation Concert The Coronation Concert was a British music concert, held outside Windsor Castle on 7 May 2023, in celebration of the Coronation of Charles III and Camilla, coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla. The concert, which was attended by 20 ...

Windsor Castle Windsor Castle is a List of British royal residences, royal residence at Windsor, Berkshire, Windsor in the English county of Berkshire, about west of central London. It is strongly associated with the Kingdom of England, English and succee ...

Discography

Studio albums

Extended plays

Singles

;As lead artist ;As featured artist

Other appearances

Songwriting credits

References

External links

Official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Abel, Zak 1995 births Living people English contemporary R&B singers English male singer-songwriters English singer-songwriters English soul singers British people of Moroccan-Jewish descent People from Hendon Singers from the London Borough of Hackney 21st-century English male singers 21st-century English singers English male table tennis players Jewish English musicians Singers from the London Borough of Barnet People educated at University College School 21st-century English sportsmen Atlantic Records artists